Vodafone entry affirms NBN model: Conroy

Communications minister, Stephen Conroy, says the entry of global mobile telecommunications company Vodafone into the local fixed-line phone market underpins the government's National Broadband Network (NBN).

Senator Conroy said he welcomed Vodafone connecting its first trial customers to the NBN for fixed-line telephony.

"It is terrific to see that a global giant like Vodafone considers the conditions are now right for it to enter the fixed-line market in Australia for the first time by connecting customers to the NBN," Senator Conroy said in a statement on Monday.

He said the NBN's wholesale-only open-access network could attract new entrants such as Vodafone as a potential retail service provider on the fixed-line market.

It was the first time Vodafone had offered fixed-line telephone services in Australia, Senator Conroy said.

"Contrary to claims that the NBN is anti-competitive, Vodafone's decision to enter the fixed-line services market demonstrates that structural reform is increasing retail service competition leading to a more dynamic and innovative market," he said.

Senator Conroy said the NBN allowed a predominantly mobiles-only operator such as Vodafone to offer new services on the NBN, and this reflected how wireless and fixed networks complemented each other.

NBN Co, a government-owned company, was established to build an optic fibre cable network for high-speed broadband to 93 per cent of homes, schools and businesses across Australia by 2021.

The remaining seven per cent would be connected by fixed wireless and satellite technology.

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